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@Troy and All, Yes, it is an AMAZING story. Transportation for research has been the biggest expense so far - thousand$. Thankfully, there were three local historians/researchers who had already done tremendous work and they willingly shared the documents and information they had dug up. We are forever grateful Three examples of what they shared with us: photocopies and handwritten transcriptions of my great grandfather's trial record where he challenged the all white jury because it was not "a jury of his peers" - THIS WAS IN 1868!!!![/b] handwritten letter from my great grandmother's "owner" seeking a military escort to take his valuable property (enslaved Africans) from Franklin, TN to Montgomery and far from the reach of Union forces - IN 1862 a handwritten statement, decades later, from a founder of the local KKK Klavern listing the others present at their first meeting in Franklin, TN We are EXCITED!!! CLANDESTINE - The Times and Secret Life of Mariah Otey Reddick tells the story of my great grandmother's family. Family lore has it that she was a SPY when she - as is WELL-DOCUMENTED - worked in the household of President Jeff Davis in Montgomery before the Confederate White House was established in Richmond, VA. Out of concern for their safety, records of Union spies were destroyed after the war, so unfortunately we have no confirmation. However, you might remember that another African/Black woman - Mary Elizabeth Bowser - spied for the Union in the Richmond White House!! http://time.com/4350450/mary-richards-bowser/ I'm sorry, y'all!! I got carried away!!!! Damani

Well, Brothers and Sisters, we've made some progress. Troy referred us to an editor who did a wonderful Manuscript Review. THANK YOU VERY MUCH TROY!! @Troy I don't know the protocols, so I won't mention her name, but she gave us positive feedback, some critiques and excellent suggestions for honing our 399 page (much more when double spaced!) manuscript into a book. VERY grateful to her!!! We are - and I hope it is OK to mention it here - now in the last phase of a crowdfunding campaign to help offset some of the pre-publication expenses. Check out our video and more information here: igg.me/at/ClandestineBook The backstory of how and why we came to write our historical novel is here: Clandestine-Life.com We WILL publish this year! Damani